Hi all, will be attending my first AR course soon and was advised to bring an ammo vest. Was looking for some suggestions as to where to shop and what to shop for. Ideally would like something easy to put on and off ((front zipper), with built in hydration bladder, pouches for both 5.56 mags and pistol mags and maybe one or two more for odds and ends. I am not really familiar with the Molle system. do I need to buy special clips or anything for that? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don’t mind spending a few extra bucks for a quality vest.
“ammo vests” suck. Those vest things went out of style in the mid 90’s.
A better solution would be something like an armor carrier with the MOLLE system that allows you to arrange pouches to meet your needs. SKD also has an excellent chest rig (not an armor carrier) that allows you to pack magazines on the chest if you so desire.
It’s also entirely possible to just use a duty belt type of setup with some mag pouches on it. I’ve done that for years and it works just fine. Armor carriers are great if you’re actually using armor.
Take a particular look at the 4th thread from the top of that search. You’ll also find stuff about vests in there, somewhere. Search.
Also check the stickied First-Line Belts thread at the top of the same subforum. Sometimes, belt-only is all you need for classes, or you can put together a first-line belt and a second-line chest rig, have everything you need and not swelter more than you have to.
How many mags are you expected to have with you on the firing line?
For an AR course I normally suggest an Eagle SKD Chest rig, only downside is the X-harness can get annoying.
Otherwise check out the Grey Group and SKD Tactical websites for what’s available.
I recently did 2 Days with Bennie Cooley using an old padded belt with 3 ITW Fast Mag carriers and an EAG Dump Pouch. It worked really well for what I needed.
Thanks guys, I meant a “chest rig” when I said vest. I was thinking that would be better for a course than a belt rig. Do not want to be pulling up my pants every 5 min !
I am planning on taking the Sept course with Jason Falla that Treehopr gave me the head’s up on in Long Island. I believe they want you to have a total of 5 mags. Does anyone know of the Camelback Delta 5 rig? It has a built in hydration bladder so you don’t have to wear one over a chest rig, unless there are other brands that have their own bladder receptacle built in.
get something with MOLLE. I would never get those permanent ammo vests that you cant reconfigure and customize
MOLLE is basically a grid like mounting system, the vest itself has the horizontal weaves and the accessories you decide to add have straps that act as the vertical weaves. It is extremely strong when you weave the vertical straps through the horizontal ones.
I’d also forgo the hydration bladder. It is just weight you could leave in the cooler next to your ammo box. You aren’t going on patrol in Sadr City, you are going to be a few yards from your tailgate.
Really, seriously, try to get by with as little gear as possible. It really, seriously gets in the way when you are training. Focus on the stick that goes bang and not pointing it at people first, then worry about gear.
Can you rent gear? The reason being is that you get to see certain features from other students and the one you rented. Then you can make a better informed opinion on what you need. Buy once cry once.
